Spring is Finally Here!!!

The winter that seemed to drag on for far too long finally loosened its grip last weekend.  It was our first winter back in Minnesota after almost three years in Colorado, and although it was pretty mild (for a Minnesota winter), it seriously lasted 6 months.

We were fortunate enough to have my family come down for the weekend to help us welcome Spring!  They got up extra early on Saturday morning to make the 3.5 hour drive.  In fact, they got here so early, we were still out and about running errands when they reached our doorstep.

Grandma and Auntie were excited to take Thomas out for a walk after the car ride.

After the women got their mani's/pedi's and Thomas took a short nap, they got right back out for another walk.

Meanwhile, Grandpa treated me and Peter to a Twins game.  We couldn't have asked for better weather at Target Field.  The Twins were able to put some runs on the board and pulled of a 7-2 win over the Texas Rangers.

While we were at the game, Thomas took the liberty of jumping right into Spring cleaning mode, and swept out the garage for us.  I hope his love for sweeping lasts at least until he's off to college.

Taking a breather from sweeping.

Grandpa giving Thomas a "Big Squeeze!"  Grandma and Grandpa treated us to B-dubs after the Twins game to help celebrate Elise's birthday.  She claims that she has no idea how old she's going to be this year.  I think she's still too young for that kind of talk!

Thomas has always been intrigued with facial hair, and since his Daddy has some common decency, he doesn't typically get to experience it.  (I kid, all of you dirty beard/mustache/goatee sporters).

One last group shot before my family hit the road again on Saturday night.  It was a long day for them, but we were sure glad they came down.  We always love having company, and Thomas really enjoys spending time with his grandparents and aunts and uncles.

Turn Off the TV

When Erik and I were first married we spent most evenings watching television with our computers in our lap, we even ate dinner with the TV on. This "arrangement" bugged me! Looking back this makes me sad, we lost out on a lot of precious alone time. 
When I got pregnant with Thomas I started reading about all the negative side affects/consequences of screen time on children. I decided I wanted to keep my child from learning the same screen habits that we had developed. I brought up the idea of not watching TV while the baby was awake and Erik almost immediately said NO! (this was the reaction I expected) I knew I wouldn't be successful in my efforts to keep our child screen free without the support of Erik. After a few discussions he agreed to the idea. 
It was quite an adjustment at first. I remember wondering why we weren't watching the Super Bowl, it wasn't like our week old baby was going to suffer developmental delays because his parents watched a football game on TV. Which is the truth, it wouldn't have harmed Thomas to sleep on Erik's chest while he sat on the couch watching TV. But the next thing you know is he is three months old and you want to watch the season finale of your favorite show, he's 9 months old and you want to watch the season premier of your favorite show and now he is one and March Madness is starting. I knew it would be easier to quit cold turkey from the beginning. 
I don't want to mislead anyone, Erik and I still watch plenty of TV, just not while Thomas is awake. I never turn it on during the day, not even while he is napping. There have been days when I think, "man it would be so nice to plop Thomas down in front of the TV for 30 minutes. I could get so much done if he were entertained for just a few minutes." It would be an easy habit to get into and an even harder one to break. I have to remind myself that what is easy to do is rarely the right thing to do. 
I must also explain that Thomas HAS been exposed to television on many occasions. We have eaten at restaurants with walls covered in televisions, we've been guests in homes when the TV was on, and we have even hosted people (in our own home) to watch the big game. Luckily, when we have people over Thomas is more interested and excited by their company to even notice the TV. And, if he is going to be exposed I prefer he be watching a sporting event rather than my favorite medical drama. :) 
Erik recently mentioned how happy he is with the decision we've made to keep all screens off while Thomas is awake. We both adore the time we spend together as a family with no distractions. I am confident that the decision we've made has been more beneficial to Thomas rather than detrimental. 
The average American will spend 9 years of their life watching TV. Children spend approximately 900 hours a year in school and on average watch 1460 hours (approx 4 hours a day) of television a year.  
This week, April 29-May 5, 2013 is National Turn Off the TV Week! If you can't turn it off, can you cut back? I can almost promise you won't regret it!

Babymoon!

After a little encouragement from my mother, Erik and I planned a weekend get a way to Chicago! Neither of us had visited the "Windy City" before so it was the perfect destination for a Babymoon! This was the first time I had been away from Thomas so I was quite apprehensive about leaving but surprisingly I held up better than I thought I would! He was under the care of my mom and sister Lauren for the weekend so I knew he was in good hands. My biggest concern was that they would decide to give him a little haircut!

We left town just before five on Thursday and arrived in Chicago just before midnight. We were both looking forward to a full nights sleep with no alarm clock to set or baby to wake us. 

First things first, brunch! We dined at a darling little restaurant called Kanela. Erik's mother recommended we eat here as her best friend's daughter is engaged to the owner. It was delish, perfect way to start the day!

Next stop, the Skydeck at Willis Tower. SO COOL! After a 60 second elevator ride we arrived at the Skydeck, 103 stories above ground.

I was lovin' it...

Erik, not so much. 

Our next stop was the Field Museum. Cool but kind of boring. :) Dinosaurs were neat, the mummy exhibit was interesting and the Gem Exhibit was pretty spectacular too. 

We weren't too interested in the rest but we did manage to spend most of the afternoon there. By the time we exited the museum it was time to head to the hotel to get ready for our dinner reservation.

Dinner our first night was at RPM Italian which is owned by Bill and Guiliana Rancic, our favorite reality TV couple! It was fabulous! (sorry, blurry iPhone pics)

We ordered a few small plates to share and started off with the best garlic bread I have ever had! We should have ordered some to go!

 Bill's Chocolate Budino for dessert!

Day Two! Shopping on the Magnificent Mile and Navy Pier. 

Does the expression on my face say "We've been walking all day, this Mama needs a rest!?"

I loved the lighthouse in the background.

The last night we met up with my cousins Tanner and Mitch. Mitch lives in Chicago and Tanner happened to be in town visiting also. We went to a great pizza place and had a lovely evening. So bummed I don't have any pictures of this get together. It was so fun to see both of them and we look forward to seeing them again in a few weeks at their brother Rob's wedding! 

I'm so grateful Erik and I were able to get away together. We missed our little stinker butt like crazy but he had a great weekend with Grandma and Auntie. They were quick to report he didn't shed any tears until he bonked his head an hour before we got home. Babymoon is over, now we patiently wait to meet the little bundle!

Minnesota Children's Museum

A couple weekends ago we spent the morning at the Minnesota Children's Museum. Thomas was gifted a membership for his birthday which is super fun because we love going to the museum!

The first exhibit was a traveling exhibit, "All About Circles!" We spent a lot of time in this room.

As you can see, Erik and Thomas had a lot of fun spinning wheels!

It was hard to get Thomas to willingly move from one exhibit to the next. 

The traffic of downtown St. Paul was just as fascinating to Thomas as anything else. This boy loves cars, trucks, buses, etc.

Sorting food by color. However, he believes that tomato is a "ball."

More sorting, this time wooden shapes. 

Erik and I were both surprised when Thomas took off through the tunnel without any prompting. 

His favorite exhibit is "Water Works!" After our first visit to the museum, we learned it is necessary to bring an extra change of clothes for this exhibit. So much easier (and more fun) to let him go wild than to try and keep him dry. 

The light exhibit is pretty fun too! A dark room with all sorts of buttons and switches that control different lights. Also a good lesson on mixing colors.

Our hope is to visit the museum once a month, which means we better plan to get back soon! 

A Day on the Farm

Thomas has a book called Easter Babies, which is about new life in the spring time. It was very fitting because the day before Easter we spent the day visiting different farms to see baby animals. Thomas may be growing up in the city but his daddy is a farm boy. We want him to be in touch with his roots. :)

He was very excited about the adventure we were about to go on. We were lucky to have beautiful weather for our day on the farm!

We started out at the turkey farm where Thomas was introduced to baby poults. Erik and his siblings grew up on a turkey farm so they were very comfortable in the barn.

Uncle Peter is currently working on the farm. He gets to tend to the poults almost every day.

 These baby turkeys were eight days old when we visited.

 Kisses for the turkey.

 The whole Anderson clan.

The temperature in the poult barn was 90 degrees.

There were 22,000 turkeys in this barn.

Mama's first time holding a poult! (cheeks are getting rosy)

Next stop, the cattle farm.

Uncle Peter has also been spending some time with the baby cows. This calf was a couple days old and born a twin. Unfortunately, it is not in good health. I'm sure the presence of Thomas only caused it more stress.

 I look like a beached whale but I did manage to hop up on that bale for a "farm day" family pic.

 Outside we got a closer look at the big cows. Auntie Hannah is a farm girl at heart. :)

 Next stop, the sheep farm. This Ewe had just given birth to twin lambs. They were an hour old!!

The lamb in this picture was three days old. Sooo cute! Auntie Lauren didn't want to miss out on this leg of the adventure.

We also swung by Grandpa Fred's work to see some trucks. Thomas seemed pretty comfortable behind the wheel. He was talking up a storm...I wish I had a clue about what he was thinking!

It's always fun for Thomas to see the dog too!

Next stop, Grandma's for a BIG nap!